(First of two parts)
On a beautiful spring day in the year 2000, my wife, Flory, and I were picnicking on a shady, grassy expanse outside the town of Dijon in France. Our bicycle pannier bags were content resting against the trunk of a huge chestnut tree, having had a rigorous workout during our morning “commute.”
(1 of 3 parts on Cuba)
11-day / 10-night tour. Highlights: In Copán, HONDURAS, Hieroglyphic Stairway, sculpture museum / in Quiriguá, GUATEMALA, texts and portraits on stelae / pyramids in Tikal / bas-reliefs and hieroglyphs in Palenque, MÉXICO / Temple de los Frescos in Bonampak / market in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. Land, $2,900. Single supp., $400. Domestic air, about $125. Mayatour (Doral, FL; 888 / 349-6292).
by Suzi Colman; Commerce, Mi
“Take every precaution and abandon all fear.”
11-day / 10-night tour in HONDURAS, GUATEMALA and MÉXICO. Highlights: 1,250 glyphs on the Hieroglyphic Stairway in Copán, Honduras / 65-ton stele in Quiriguá, Guatemala / Mayan archaeological sites at Tikal, Yaxha, Topoxté / frescoes at Palenque, Mexico / jaguar and crocodile statues in Yaxchilan / Antigua, Guatemala / Chichicastanango handicraft market. Land, $2,900. Single supp., $400. Internal air, about $125. Mayatour (Doral, FL; 888 / 349-6292).
(Part 2 of 3 on Colombia)
For the second portion of our February 2013 Colombian adventure, “Colombia’s Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle,” in which I was hosted by Overseas Adventure Travel, our group traveled by air from Medellín to Pereira via Bogotá.
Pereira is one of the three legs of the Coffee Triangle, along with the cities Manizales and Armenia. On our final descent, viewing the coffee plantations below — a veritable sea of greenery — served to heighten my excitement.
14 days / 13 nights, June 13-27, 2013. Highlights: Zagreb walking tour / waterfalls in Plitvice National Forest / island of Hvar / Zadar / Split / Dubrovnik’s Old Town. Land, $1,691. Single supp., $370. Vertical Horizons Travel (Folsom, CA; 916 / 983-8651).
The UK’s first designated City of Culture is Derry, Northern Ireland, with more than 266 events scheduled in 2013, including sports, dance, theater, art, film, storytelling and historical reenactments. Most are free.
For example, the city will host the Highland Dance Festival in April. In August, the Derry Regatta will hold a month-long rally of traditional sailing yachts, and the Fleadh Cheoil na h’Éireann, the world’s largest festival of Irish music, will be held.
by Wayne Wirtanen, Contributing Editor
